It is amazing that in the past thirty years, well in excess of one hundred patents have been granted for variations on the sawhorse. Many of the patents have been focused on methods for folding or collapsing the rather unweildly device, while others have focused on the addition of features which enhance the utility of the device.
Most patents directed toward making the sawhorse more compact for storage have taken the folding leg approach. However, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,035,660 issued to Louis E. Leon, the inventor teaches the construction of a four-piece sawhorse which requires no hardware for assembly. The sawhorse comprises a pair of identical, spaced apart, essentially equilaterally triangular, inwardly tilting legs connected at their apices by a back beam and at corresponding points on their medians by a spreader beam. The beams connect to the legs by means of interlocking notches and slits. U.S. Pat. No. 245,105, issued to Richard J. Rader, shows another four-piece sawhorse, which comprises two parallel back beams inserted near each ends through a pair of vertical notches in a leg panel. Although it is not clear from the patent how the four pieces are connected or whether the unit may be disassembled, the design obviously provides less rigidity and less strength than does the Leon design
It is possible to construct an improved sawhorse that has even fewer parts, greater strength and more rigidity than the sawhorses taught by either Leon or Rader.